Ultimate Defender
by DJ-7.5
Summary: After an unidentified object sends him to another universe, Keith must put his trust in the infamous Spider-Man and his band of teenagers in order to find the other Paladins and get home— easier said then done, especially with a whole new world of villains to face. Post season 7 of Voltron and end of Ultimate.
1. Chapter 1

It was an average day in New York. J. Jonah Jameson was ranting about Spider-Man, kids were getting bored out of their minds at school, and the Web Warriors had just finished stopping an Oscorp robbery. They watched from a nearby rooftop as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Damage Control moved in to start the clean up.

"Well that was easier than I thought it would be," Scarlet Spider commented, eying Black Cat suspiciously in case she tried anything.

"Yeah," Iron Spider agreed,"It looks like the super villains are losing their touch."

"Actually, I think we're just getting better," Spider-Man replied with a laugh.

Kid Arachnid did a backflip,"Oh yeah! We are killing it! You know why? Because we're awesome and they're way too easy. I bet that in a few months, we'll be Avengers, no doubt."

"I hear that," Agent Venom gave Kid a fist-bump as Spider-Woman let out a small laugh as she shook her head. Suddenly a thunderous sound tore through the air. All eyes looked up at the sky where a large, swirling vortex had appeared out of nowhere. Spidey might have pegged it as a portal into one of the alternate Spider-verses if it wasn't so clearly not. This one actually looked more akin to a black hole, though the ring of strange glyphs around the edge was certainly a unique add-on.

"Was anyone expecting an inter-dimensional visit today?" He quipped," 'Cause I think we're about to get one."

He was proven correct about two seconds later when the portal flared up and something shot out through it, falling into Central Park with a loud boom. Then the vortex closed, disappearing as though it had never been there. The team stood there for a few seconds, stunned into silence by the odd turn of events.

"So," Kid Arachnid said after he finally thought of something to say,"Who wants to go first?"

—

Ten minutes later they were making their way through the park, with Kid scouting ahead after it was unanimously decided that he would go first. As they walked, Spider-Man thought over the design of the portal in his head. It was unlike any he'd seen before, and that was saying something.

"Unreal."

Iron Spider's quiet voice brought him out of his thoughts,"What's that, Cho?"

"I've been going over the reading my suit was able to save from that portal," the kid genius answered, his eyes never leaving his holographic screen,"It's incredible. The sheer amount of energy that was radiating off it, even for a few seconds, was unlike anything we've encountered before."

Spidey's eyes widened a bit,"Really?"

"The closest thing I can compare it to is the Arc Reactor powering Stark Industries, and even then—"

"Guys!" Kid Arachnid's shout drew their attention to the black and red teen who was frantically running toward them, coming to a stop just in front of them,"You'll never believe what it is!"

"A giant piñata filled with candy!?" Everyone gave Venom a flat look,"What? I'm hungry."

Scarlet let his face fall into his hand, muttering something about 'stupid teenagers' as Spider-Man turned back to their youngest member,"Lead the way, Miles."

He gave a nod, then turned and took off web-swinging through the trees, the others following suit as Iron Spider flew behind them. It was barely a minute of wondering what the objet could possibly be before they stopped swinging/flying and dropped to the ground in stunned silence. Laying in front of them, having smashed through a good dozen trees, was a giant, robotic, black cat. A few moments passed.

"What the—"

A sharp jab in the arm from Spidey cut Scarlet off, knowing the curse word he'd wanted to say, the former shooting the latter a glare for it as he briefly rubbed his now slightly sore arm. After a short staring contest, they turned back to the robot cat, letting the silence fall over them once again.

"So...can we go in?" Venom asked, looking to their leader for an answer. In turn, Spider-Man just glanced over to Iron Spider,"Cho?"

"Working on it," he replied, already scanning the massive robot and going over the data. A few seconds later and they had their sort-of-answer,"It looks like this thing runs on the same energy that made up the portal. It's structure is incredibly intricate, made of some kind of alloy I've never seen before," Agent Venom and Kid Arachnid shared a secret 'Do you have any idea what he's saying?' look behind the rest, then shrugged to each other in sync before continuing to listen,"It seems to be hollowed out— a ship of some kind."

"Who the heck makes a ship look like a cat?" Spider-Woman spoke up.

"Good question," the tech-head continued to scour his data for an answer, but came up with nothing,"I have no idea. I doesn't make much sense in terms of aerodynamics, but then again, that might not have even been a concern if it's meant for space travel."

It was Spider-man's turn to ask a question,"Is there anyone inside?"

"Not sure. Whatever this thing's made out of, it's blocking my bio and thermal scanners."

He turned back to the giant cat-ship, now getting the weird feeling that it was, more specifically, a lion. Why he got that feeling, he wasn't sure, but he'd file it away for later. Coming out of his thoughts, he caught the tail end of Kid Arachnid and Agent Venom arguing with Iron Spider and Spider-Woman over what the pilot might look like, with Scarlet offering the occasional 'That sounds dumb.' with his arms crossed in his signature way. Spidey waited for a small opening in conversation to get their attention and say,"It doesn't matter what they look like. Our first priority is making sure they get medical help if they need it. Then we can discuss whether or not they look like _Alien_ ," he turned to his nerd buddy,"Did your scan detect an entrance we could use?"

Iron Spider brought the holo screen up again,"There are multiple possibilities," three areas lit up green, showing the entire mussel, a hexagon on top of the head and a rectangular shape on the chest,"But I'm not sure which are primary and which are secondary."

"So, what?" Kid scratched his head curiously,"Do we just knock and hope that they hear us?"

Cho shrugged,"Worth a try."

The six heroes split into three teams of two, Kid Arachnid and Iron Spider took the chest door, and Venom and Spider-Woman investigated the crown of the head while Spider-Man and Scarlet walked up to the lion's mouth. It was kind of intimidating, giving them a strange sense of fear, like it would suddenly spring to life and swallow them whole. Ridiculous, they knew, but that didn't stop the worry from sprouting at the back of both Spiders' minds. They stopped a foot from the white metal, just staring up at the dark yellow eyes that almost seemed to be watching them. Scarlet turned to his leader,"Are you feeling that?"

"I thought it was just me, but yeah," Spidey replied. Ever since they'd gotten so close to the lion, an unusual, tingly sensation had worked its way up his spine to the base of his head, not entirely unlike his Spider-sense, but different to the point where it became a strangeness neither of them recognized. After a brief period of having a conversation with their masked eyes, Spider-Man moved slightly forward, rapped his knuckles on the ship's hull and called out,"Hello? Is there anyone in there?"

They waited.

—

Hello there, curious reader!

In case you're wondering about that part between Spidey and Scarlet; no, neither of them will pilot Black. I just put that in there because I get the impression that they might be able to feel the Black Lion's energy due to their Spider-Sense, and because their both pretty good leaders. Even if Scarlet is a bit temperamental.

It might be off from what would actually happen, but hey, I'm no expert on how Quintessencs interacts with superheroes.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. And if you did, make sure to leave a review, especially if I got something wrong—literally, _anything_ wrong.

Review=me posting the next chapter.

Later, Pala-dudes!


	2. Chapter 2

Pain.

That was the first thing he registered, and honestly, how could he not? It was coursing through every part of him, increasing when he attempted to move. Who-knows-how-long before, it had been the thing to drive him into unconsciousness in the first place, and now it brought him back to reality. He was grateful for that, no matter how dangerous or pain-filled reality was. Thinking back as his mind cleared, he tried to remember what had happened before blacking out. They had been checking out an anomaly in Earth's upper atmosphere. It had been some sort of ship, though it didn't resemble any that they had seen before. Just as they had gotten close, it blew up, sending them flying, everyone screaming—

Keith's eyes widened as he shot up in his seat, though his body didn't seem so keen on that idea as more pain tore through him at the movement, eliciting a wheezy grunt, but it didn't stop his train of thought.

The others.

Allura, Lance, Pidge, Hunk,—all of them had been tossed around like rag dolls before a wave of white came over his senses. It seemed that thing had sent them here, wherever 'here' was. Keith tried to discern where he'd landed, but was blocked by the non-responsive cockpit that was completely dark.

Plan. He needed a plan.

Okay, step 1: Find out where he was.

Step 2: Make sure the others were okay.

Step 3: Get the Lions working again.

Step 4: Get the heck outta' Dodge.

He reached forward and gripped the steering columns. If he was going to get to any of the Paladins, he needed to restore power—which would be a lot easier if his body weren't on fire.

"Come on, Black," Keith muttered hoarsely, his voice strained by the thick layer of mucus lining his throat, but he channeled as much of himself into the Lion as he could,"Just a little power, that's all we need, come on."

He waited a moment, feeling his own Quintessence flow down his arms, through his hands and into the columns. He was rewarded by the consoles lighting up. It was a little faint but it was there. Keith allowed himself a mental fist-pump. The main screen remained off, however—turning on Black's eyes would take more energy than he had in him at this point, but it was enough to get the doors open, at least. He pushed a few buttons on one of the holo-screens to see where power levels were at. It wasn't good. He was halfway through the reserve, which would only let him go for a short flight—nowhere near the distance he might need to travel to find the others—or get one good shot off. Neither option really helped him in the long run, especially since he didn't know who this planet was controlled by.

"Hello?"

Keith's head shot up. Was that English?

"Is there anyone in there?"

Okay, step 1.5: Find out who was knocking.

Whoever they were, they didn't sound hostile. Then again, they never did until the moment they stabbed you in the back, but even still, he needed to find out where he was. Using the steering columns, he pushed himself shakily to his feet, his body protesting the entire time. The faintest rumble echoed in the back of his mind as he stumbled against the doorway. _'At least Black isn't too far gone,'_ Keith thought with tiny smile, then spoke through the bond, _'Don't worry, I'll be back soon.'_ The door opened painfully slow, then stopped, giving him just enough room to squeeze through. As he made it into the mussel area, he noticed that his Lion was at a slight angle, as most of the body probably was. Feet dragging with exhaustion, he forced himself to the front, keeping one hand on the wall to prevent himself from falling over. That would not do him any favors.

A second knock, this one sending a pounding echo through his head.

"Hey, can anybody hear me?"

Keith took a deep breath and replied,"Who wants to know?"

He heard a small yelp, then a different voice said,"The Web Warriors. That's who, punk."

Web Warriors? That sounded like a name Lance would make up for a group of spider-themed cosplayers. But the thing that caught him by surprise the most was that it sounded like something from Earth; dorky. It gave him pause before calling out,"Where am I?"

"At the moment," the first person took over,"Central Park, New York. Smashed through a lot of trees, too."

Okay, now Keith was even more confused—relieved that he wasn't on another planet, but still confused. He supposed that it was possible for that blast to have sent him halfway across the US, it definitely had enough power. However, it seemed unlikely that Haggar (or was it Honerva now?) would send something so simple as a bomb that she must have known couldn't destroy the Lions when she'd sent that massively powerful Robeast before. It made no sense. In all his pondering, Keith failed to hear other people being called over, that is, until a deep, almost distorted voice shouted,"Hey, you okay in there, buddy?"

He snapped back to attention, focusing himself on the here and now. Worrying about the how's and why's wasn't going to help him, so he took a steadying breath and replied,"Yeah, I'm fine. Just wrapping my head around that."

"Do you know the Guardians of the Galaxy?" A younger voice cut in. If he had to guess, Keith would say that they were about Pidge's age.

"Is there a way you can get out?" The first speaker took over again, completely ignoring the question. The leader, most likely.

"Yes," he answered a bit guardedly,"But I'm low on power. I'm not sure if I can get it open."

"Whoah, hold the phone!" Another person? Just how many were there?

"This thing is radiating more energy than I've seen in any other machine and your telling me that it's on low? What kind of ship is this!?"

Keith couldn't help but smirk,"The kind that can link up into a giant robot warrior."

A collective 'What the what?' rang through the other side. He really shouldn't have said that, but it was way too tempting and made his smile even bigger. These guys were definitely from Earth; dubious enough to question but trusting enough to at least partially buy it. Their reactions made him chuckle, then continue,"I might be able to get enough systems running to open the mouth, but it might take a second."

"Do what you have to."

A sixth member? Great, so he was very much outnumbered. Nonetheless, Keith would admit that he needed a way out, so he stretched out his arms and placed his hands against the cool metal. He would be the first to say that he was no Allura when it came to giving his Lion the Quintessence it required, but he could give enough and that was all he needed. As he concentrated harder, he could feel the familiar, warm tingle start in his chest, race down his arms, out his hands and into the Black Lion. The comforting purr in his mind grew steadier, though not by much. Keith opened his eyes for a moment to see the rectangles on the floor light up. He could feel his Lion growing stronger by each passing second, so he kept going, kept the energy flowing, until a voice in his mind told him, _'Stop. You've given enough for now.'_

Keith lowered his arms and took a step back. He was tired again, this time with pride in the knowledge that he'd helped Black get at least somewhat back on his paws. It was then that he felt the floor shift as the Lion straightened himself into a laying position, eliciting a couple squeaks of surprise for the spectators outside. Keith had almost forgotten about them. Once the Black Lion stopped moving, the mouth opened, letting in the warm light of the afternoon sun. It was bright enough that after being in his dark Lion, Keith had to shield his eyes with his arm and wait for them to adjust, and once they did, he was in for one of the strangest sights of his life.

Six people were standing in front of him in unusual costumes, all having a spider symbol on their chests, though each was unique for its wearer. They were staring at him through masks that showed little to no emotion, except the eyes seemed a little larger then they should have been. He supposed 'spider-themed cosplayers' wasn't entirely inaccurate, then. There was only one girl in the group, he noticed, though she definitely looked fierce. Keith made a mental note not to get on her bad side. The two sides stared at each other silently for a moment, until,"What kind of alien are you?"

"Dude, what about him looks alien? He's probably human, or at least humanoid."

"Hey, he's wearing a helmet, he could totally be Alien! He might not even understand what we're saying!"

"He was literally just talking to us in English."

"Don't ruin this for me, man."

"Shouldn't we be focusing on who he is and why he's here?"

Keith cleared his throat to get their attention, then said,"Maybe you could let him answer since he's standing right here?"

"Right, sorry," the one in the middle stepped forward, Keith identifying him as the first person he talked to,"Who are you?"

"Could ask you the same thing," Keith retorted, folding his arms across his chest,"Name for a name."

"Fair enough. I'm—"

"Wait," the one in black with red highlights interrupted,"You don't know who he is?"

Keith gave the leader another once over. His costume was a pretty even mix of red and blue with white eye lenses and a web pattern on the red parts. Not ringing a bell,"Should I?"

"He's Spider-Man! The Spider-Man! How could you not possibly not know who he is!?" The big black one seemed to be a fan. Keith gave a half-hearted shrug,"What can I say? I haven't exactly been all over Earth yet."

Spider-Man seemed to quiet any questions the others probably still had, instead asking his own inquiry,"So, you're from here, then?"

"Not specifically New York, but yes, I am from Earth."

The two wanting to meet an alien seemed to deflate a bit. The woman of the group spoke up,"Then where have you been? And what's with the ship?"

"It's a long story," Keith rubbed the base of his head, both because he was uncomfortable sharing all that information and his neck was starting get a bit sore. Great. He must have picked that up in the crash.

"Well, in any case, I'm Spider-Man. That's Scarlet Spider, Iron Spider, Agent Venom, Kid Arachnid and Spider-Woman," he gestured to each hero as he spoke,"Together, we're the Web Warriors."

The raven-haired man gave an understanding nod,"Okay then, I'm Keith, Black Paladin of Voltron."

A collective blink came from the heroes. Just before they could begin peppering Keith with endless questions, a device that looked like a watch went off on Spider-Man's wrist, showing the face of a stern-looking man with an eye patch.

 **"Spider-Man,"** he said sharply, **"Status report on the unidentified object."**

"Just finishing up now, Fury," he replied cheerily,"Be back at the Triskellion in a jiffy. Also, could you send a couple Quinjets to help move this thing?"

"Cancel that order," Keith cut in firmly,"I'm not going anywhere and neither is my Lion."

As the Web Warriors looked at him like he had grown another head, the on-screen image switched to a holographic display so Fury could see who exactly had spoken, **"Listen here, this might not be the same where you're from, but you are not in command. You will be escorted to the Triskellion and your ship will be detained until we determine whether or not you're a threat."**

"No, you listen," Keith fired back, though his voice remained steady,"No one touches the Lion. I will leave when my business is finished, but until then—"

A massive Boom! interrupted what might have escalated into a full-on fight. All eyes turned to where the last of an explosion was seen over the top of the trees, followed by screams of people. Just then, the screen split so that another man with dark red sunglasses could now be seen.

 **"Spider-man, we have a problem,"** he said urgently.

His shoulders instantly slumped,"Oh, don't tell me."

 **"I'm afraid it's escaped,"** the man finished, his tone now solemn.

"Ugh, we're on it," Spider-Man ended both calls and turned to his team,"Looks like we've got a new problem. Iron Spider, Spider-Woman, Kid, you're with me," the three gave confident nods,"Agent Venom, Scarlet, stay here and keep an eye on him," he jutted a thumb over his shoulder toward their new 'friend',"Let's go, team."

The specified heroes took off over and through the tree line.

"Aw man," Venom whined,"Could've used a good fight today."

"You're telling me," Scarlet agreed.

As the sounds of the fight continued to assault Keith's ears, he couldn't help but stare after the four web-slingers. What could possibly be small enough that they didn't see it and yet cause so much damage? A Galra platoon? No, he'd have noticed if a one of their cruisers had entered the atmosphere, and that second man on the com channel, he'd seemed to be standing in a damaged lab of some sort. A biological experiment? That seemed to be a viable explanation, but since when did the Garrison dabble in creating new life? Something was off in this world.

"What's attacking?" he asked, gaining the attention of his guards.

"It's a new symbiote—Ow!" Venom was interrupted by Scarlet punching him in the arm,"What? He asked."

"You aren't supposed to answer," the other growled harshly.

"What's a symbiote?" Keith pressed.

"Well, I guess since it isn't classified anymore," Scarlet gave his partner a final glare then turned back to him,"Symbiotes are sludge-like creatures that destroy everything in their way to find a host. Once it's attached itself to one, it's almost impossible to get it off and will take over the host's psyche, turning them into a rampaging monster."

Keith gained a look of utter shock and horror. Why would anyone ever make something like that? This definitely wasn't his world, or even universe he would guess. His gaze snapped back to the direction of the battle as another explosion went off, sending more screams into the air.

"If that thing is so dangerous, then shouldn't you be helping them?" Keith gestured to the massive plume of smoke that was now billowing into the air.

"And leave you alone to do who-knows-what?" Scarlet retorted,"Nice try."

"Those people are in danger," he stressed,"If you're heroes, and I get the impression that you are, then it's your responsibility to protect those people."

Scarlet took an angry step forward, stingers springing from his wrists,"Do _not_ try to lecture me about responsibility, punk."

"He's got a point, Scarlet," he turned to look incredulously at Agent Venom, who put his hands up to try and calm him,"Hey, all I'm saying is that we both know how bad symbiotes can get, and this guy hasn't done anything wrong. He could even help," he turned to off-worlder,"Wouldn't you?"

"Without hesitation," Keith replied confidently,"My Lion isn't functional. I have nothing to gain by tricking you," Scarlet seemed to be considering it,"I get that this might not be part of your MO, but you can trust me."

The stingers retracted,"Fine. But we still can't leave your ship unprotected and out in the open."

"Leave that to me," Keith nodded his thanks, then walked back toward Black. Placing his hands once again on the white metal, he channeled all the energy he could muster for the third time that day. He blocked out the quandaries that Scarlet and Venom asked, instead pushing his energy into his Lion as it slowly came back online. Only when a fervent growl sounded in his mind did he step back, watching as the Black Lion's eyes regained their glow. It sat up fully and gave a mighty roar into the sky, the sound being heard for miles around, before activating its particle barrier. Keith gave a tired sigh and turned back to the two Spiders. He couldn't help but enjoy the looks of shock written on their faces, passing from him to the Lion and back.

"Let's go."

 **—**

Hello there, curious reader!

If anything didn't seem right to you or someone wasn't acting like themselves, please let me know. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

See ya later, Pala-dudes!


End file.
